The Scholarship Society is registered under the B.C. Societies Act, and is a federally registered charity led by an 11-member board of directors. The board is governed by a constitution, bylaws and statement of founding principles.
Collectively and individually, the Board members bring vision, integrity and commitment to providing access to post-secondary education.
Hugh Gordon, Chair
Mike Apsey, Director
John Chenoweth, Director
Jim Crawford, Director
David Johns, Director
Jim Hamliton, Director
Deborah Hull, Director
Tony Loughran, Director
Christine Massey, Director
Peter Podovinikoff, Director
Larry Ross, Director
Hugh Gordon, FCA, LL.D., was a tax partner with KPMG in Calgary, Toronto, Victoria and Vancouver. Hugh was the first member appointed to the Royal Roads University Board of Governors, and chaired the board and served as the university’s chancellor from RRU’s inception in July 1995 until his retirement from the board in September 2003. As well, he has consulted to the Government of British Columbia on various fiscal issues and as a negotiator, including acting as the Assistant Chief Negotiator for the province during the historic Nisga’a land claim and self-government negotiations.
Hugh Gordon has served on civic, charitable and business boards and commissions, including the Greater Victoria Economic Development Commission, the Victoria Foundation, both the National and the B.C. and Yukon Division boards of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in Canada and the boards of B.C. Rail, the British Columbia Wine Authority and the University of Victoria. He is a recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee Medal in recognition of his service to the community.
Mike graduated from the University of British Columbia in 1961 with a degree in Forestry. Upon graduation he joined the B.C. Department of Industrial Development, Trade, and Commerce. From 1963 to 1978 he held positions with MacMillan Bloedel Limited; the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; Council of Forest Industries of B.C.; and F.L.C. Reed and Associates before becoming Deputy Minister of Forests for the Province of British Columbia in 1978. During his tenure with the Ministry, he also served as Vice-Chairman of the B.C. Deputy Ministers' Committee on Economic Development. In 1984, after six years of service with the Province of British Columbia, he became President and Chief Executive Officer of the Council of Forest Industries, a position he held until his retirement in 1998. During his career Mike has worked extensively on assignment overseas in almost 45 countries world-wide. He has participated in many regional, national and international forest and forest sector initiatives, reviews and conferences and has been a Board member of numerous organizations. In 2002, Mike was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.
John has worked with Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (NVIT) for two years as the Dean of Instruction and Distributed Learning. As a Native Indian Teacher Education Program (NITEP) grad with a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership, John has been involved in First Nations education at both the K-12 and Post-Secondary levels for his entire career. His prior roles have included Elementary School Principal and District Principal for First Nations Education. He is a member of the
Upper Nicola Indian Band in the Nicola Valley, and loves to work with kids and interact with them within the community. When time allows, John still likes to get back into the class room and teach a few courses with NVIT.
James (Jim) Crawford, FCA, became a CA in 1972. After articling with Clarkson Gordon in Victoria and Vancouver, he moved into a controllership position in the construction industry. Crawford set up his own CA practice in Victoria in 1979, and his brother-in-law David Paterson, FCA, joined him the following year. Together they built Crawford Paterson Campbell & McNeill into one of the largest mid-sized firms on Vancouver Island, where Jim continues to practise.
In the community, Crawford has been active for many years with the Victoria Jazz Society, and has participated in various fundraising efforts for the Vikes men’s soccer program and related athletic financial support programs. He has also volunteered as a coach and board member for the Gordon Head Soccer Association, as treasurer of St. Michael’s University School, and as a member of the board of the Victoria Symphony. In recent years, Jim’s six-piece swing band “Mile Zero” has played exclusively for non-profit fundraising events.
President of Okanagan College since 2004, Jim Hamilton has an association with the institution that dates back 31 years. He began his career with the institution in 1980 teaching English in what then served as the Vernon Campus - the old Canadian Forces army barracks. Over the years he has also served as an Okanagan University College Board of Governors member, and the Regional Principal of the North Okanagan Region. Hamilton has also worked for School District 22 as a K-12 administrator and served a term as a school trustee. He holds a Master's Degree in English Literature from Queen's University and was a Graduate Research Fellow on that university's Disraeli Project (1975-80). Hamilton also has a background as a consultant in media and public relations, strategic planning, and market research and has worked with many community organizations, particularly in the North Okanagan.
Since becoming President of Okanagan College, Hamilton has served as President of the Trades Training Consortium of British Columbia (TTCBC) and is currently its Vice President. He also served as Chair of the BC College Presidents group, is currently serving as Chair of the BC Council for International Education, as a Board Member of the Asia Pacific Gateway Skills Table and as a Board member of the British Columbia Council for Admissions and Transfer.
Deborah received a law degree from the University of Victoria in 1995. Following her Call to the Bar in 1996, she did consulting work for various government ministries and agencies, including the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Ministry of Forests, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Deborah joined the Ministry of Advanced Education in 1998 as Senior Legislative Analyst. She has worked in a management role since 2000, first as Manager, Legislation for the Ministry of Advanced Education, and then as Acting Director, Child Care Policy, for the Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and Women’s Services. She was appointed Director, Private Institutions and Sector Initiatives for the Ministry of Advanced Education in December 2002, and as Director, Post
Secondary and Industry Training for the Ministry in July 2004. In July 2006, she was appointed Executive Director, Universities and Institutes Branch. She is currently Executive Director, Universities and Aboriginal Programs Branch in the Ministry of Science and Universities.
David has practised law with Johns, Southward, Glazier, Walton & Margetts, and its predecessors, since 1973. The firm operates out of three offices, Victoria, Langford and Duncan, with David helping clients with corporate and commercial, real estate, personal planning, will, estate and trust matters out of the Victoria office.
Throughout his career David has been an active participant in the community, and was the recipient of the Victoria Bar Association Volunteer Award for 2007. He is a member of the Kiwanis Club of Victoria and, amongst other positions within the organization, was its president 1988 - 1989. Past volunteer positions include the boards of directors of Silver Threads Service, the Royal and MacPherson Theatre Society, and the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence, and the Board of Governors of Camosun College. In addition to serving the Irving K. Barber Scholarship Society, David also currently serves on the Allen and Loreen Vandekerkhove Foundation, Habitat for Humanity Victoria and the Victoria Police Board.
David holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree from the University of Victoria and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of British Columbia.
Biography to come.
Christine Massey is Executive Director, Legislation & Professional Regulation at the BC Ministry of Health Services. Prior to her current appointment, she was Director, Policy & Research with the Research Universities’ Council of British Columbia (previously, the University Presidents’ Council of British Columbia), an organization that represents the interests of BC's four public research universities.
Before joining TUPC, Christine held positions with the British Columbia Ministry of Advanced Education and the University of British Columbia. She was also part of a team at Simon Fraser University examining the impact of online learning on universities in Canada. Christine holds an undergraduate degree (B.A.) from the University of Ottawa and a Master's degree from Simon Fraser University (Master of Arts).
Peter is a Certified General Accountant (CGA) and resident of Surrey, BC. In 2005, Peter retired as the President of Envision Credit Union after spending over 40 years in leadership positions in the credit union system. Peter currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Envision Credit Union, and has retired as Chair on the Board of the Co-operators Insurance Group. His other community service includes the board member of Kwantlen Polytechnic University Foundation (Past Chair) and Rotary Club of Ladner (current President), among others.
His public service involvement includes serving on the Economic Council of Canada, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the Premier’s Advisory Council on Literacy.
Larry Ross is an Associate Partner in KPMG’s Audit practice in Victoria with more than 30 years of experience. Larry has provided a broad range of professional services to various public sector clients including school districts, municipalities, hospitals, universities and not-for-profit organizations. His clients include six School Districts, Camosun College, Royal Roads University, United Way of Greater Victoria, Municipality of Saanich, Victoria Harbour Authority, Oak Bay Kiwanis Pavilion, and the Queen Alexandra Foundation.
Larry is Victoria’s acknowledged leader in the implementation of not-for-profit accounting standards. He has authored opinions on government and not-for-profit accounting and has assisted numerous not-for-profit organizations, municipalities and government business enterprises in the implementation of the NPO accounting standards. Larry was appointed as an advisor to the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants’ committee to consider all aspects of not-for-profit accounting, which has resulted in recommended changes to the existing guidance.